'Freddie the Flyer' chronicles exploits of the North's first Indigenous pilot

Across the pages of a picture book, the northern lights dance over the Arctic landscape with brush strokes of bold colour, as caribou and muskox graze on the tundra and a bush pilot takes to the skies. 'Freddie the Flyer' chronicles the real exploits of Fred Carmichael, the first Indigenous commercial pilot in the Canadian Arctic.

Across the pages of a picture book, the northern lights dance over the Arctic landscape with brush strokes of bold colour, as caribou and muskox graze on the tundra and a bush pilot takes to the skies.

As the pilot flies across the Mackenzie Delta, he rescues a stranded prospector from a blizzard, packs a team of smelly sled dogs on board and picks up a pregnant woman who gives birth as he lands.

"Freddie the Flyer" chronicles the real exploits of Fred Carmichael, the first Indigenous commercial pilot in the Canadian Arctic.

Now 88 and living in Inuvik, N.W.T., Carmichael, who co-authored the book with Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail, said he hopes it will help kids pursue their dreams.

"If they want to be a pilot or anything else you really want to do, you need to find the people to help you get started," he wrote in an email.

"There are always people out there like me willing to help. I was able to go from a dog-team to an airplane before I learned to drive a car, thanks to a pilot/preacher who saw that I was interested."

Metcalfe-Chenail said she hopes young and grown-up readers will be inspired by Carmichael's story.